Yardbarker

Sam Robinson

Writer

Sam Robinson is a sportswriter from Kansas City, Missouri. He primarily covers the NFL for Yardbarker. Moving from wildly injury-prone sprinter in the aughts to reporter in the 2010s, Sam set up camp in three time zones covering everything from high school water polo to Division II national championship games. He has since settled in as the husband of a track and field coach, concentrating on the NFL. Boasting an unhealthy interest in the league’s history and fashion trends, Sam is the lead writer for Pro Football Rumors and has written about the sport for Yardbarker since 2018. In addition to working as a writer/editor for a few newspapers – the Cleveland Plain Dealer and St. Joseph (Missouri) News-Press, to name two – in a former life that included some awkward awards-show hosting gigs thankfully inaccessible online, Sam has written about the Olympics for The Athletic.

EXPERTISE:

NFL, track and field, boxing

Ranking the NFL's secondaries

A few key secondary pieces are on new teams as training camps open. A few franchises strengthened already strong DB groups with draft or free agency additions. Here is how the NFL's secondaries stack up.

Ranking the NFL's pass-rushing units

In addition to Von Miller changing teams, multiple other players on the Hall of Fame radar relocated to reshuffle this year's pass-rushing contingents. As training camps get underway, here is how the league's pass rushes stack up.

The most memorable seasons by NFL backup quarterbacks

Quarterback injuries annually force teams to make adjustments. Teams' second options under center have made considerable impacts on several occasions throughout NFL history.

Notable NFL QBs who were acquired late in the offseason

It's uncommon, but not unheard of, for notable QBs to change teams -- via trade, free agency, or waiver claim -- at the 11th hour or during a season. Here are the top instances of QBs relocating late and making an impact that season. 

The top NFL players returning from major injuries in 2022

Several NFL stars or key starters saw early-season injuries affect their own trajectories and/or their teams' fortunes. Here are the players who missed big chunks of last season who stand to play big parts in 2022.

Who are the new play-callers for the 2022 NFL season?

Some teams opted to hire veteran headset operators, while others will entrust their offenses to first-timers. Arranged by NFL play-calling experience, here is this year's contingent of new hires.

The biggest positional downgrades across the NFL

Several teams sustained some losses this offseason -- some at high-profile positions -- and will be attempting to replace some standout performers with lesser-known talents.

The biggest holes on NFL rosters

The window between minicamp and training camp provides a roster-reassessment period for NFL teams. Several teams will exit minicamp with glaring deficiencies.

Every NFL QB picked in third round of the draft in the 21st century

Here are the paths for every third-round passer chosen this century.

The longest-tenured kicker-punter duos in NFL history

Here are the longest-tenured tandems, among pure kickers and punters, in special teams history. 

The NFL offseason's most improved position groups

An all-action NFL offseason has led to reshaped position groups across the league, through blockbuster trades, the usual free agency waves, and the draft.

How quarterback instability has defined certain NFL teams

The Broncos, Colts, and Commanders are preparing to start their sixth Week 1 quarterback, respectively, in the past six seasons. That puts these franchises on rare terrain for QB turnover, but other teams have gone through similar stretches of passer instability.

The best quarterback divisions in NFL history

With an aim to pinpoint when top talent crossed paths and when new arrivals created considerable depth, here are the Super Bowl era's best quarterback divisions. 

Ranking the receiving corps for every NFL team

No modern offseason has featured wide receiver shakeups like this year's when free-agent signings and trades transformed the market. After the seismic trades and another deep wideout draft altered almost every team's receiving corps, here is how each team's group stands entering the summer.

Who are the top beneficiaries from the NFL offseason?

While trades, free-agent signings, and draft picks generated NFL headlines over the past several weeks, those moves produced ripple effects. Beneficiaries emerged as a result of teams' big-ticket transactions.

The greatest NFL QBs to hail from smaller college programs

Here are the top QBs to come out of small schools -- be it low-level Division I programs or non-Division I schools -- in the common draft era (1967-present).

Small-school players who became top-10 NFL draft picks

Here are the players from low-tier Division I schools, or programs outside the Division I-FBS level, that became top-10 picks in the NFL's common draft era (1967-present). 

Every NFL team's best second-round draft pick

Here is the best second-round pick each of the NFL's 32 teams has made in the common draft era (1967-present).

The worst cap casualty decisions in NFL free agency history

The salary cap annually forces teams into tough decisions, leading to quality players unexpectedly becoming free agents. These cuts can come back to bite teams, with vets eager to prove their ex-employers wrong.

The richest contract from each year of NFL free agency

Only deals given to players who changed teams qualify here.

Replacing a franchise NFL QB is a monumentally difficult task

Various blueprints exist throughout NFL history of how to orchestrate quarterback transitions. Some have panned out, while the failures show how difficult this task can be.

How every NFL team's QB situation currently stacks up

Days away from free agency, the NFL's quarterback carousel has finally begun to spin. While the Broncos made a transformative trade and the Packers locked down the reigning MVP, many teams still are trying to upgrade their QB situations; here is how the 32 stacks up going into the 2022 league year. 

Every team that has made two top-10 picks in the NFL draft

While extraordinarily uncommon in the modern NFL, select teams have made multiple top-10 picks in the same draft before. Here are the teams to do so since the common draft began in 1967.

The best seasons by NFL defensive rookies

From sack records to players that impacted playoff teams' fortunes, here are the NFL's top defensive seasons from first-year performers.